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‘I had relationships but never got married. I totally dedicated myself to my career. I travelled around the world for work and even in the summer I’d be off to the United States to teach. I never really had a domestic base.

‘The career always came first and that was probably a mistake. It was a sacrifice.’

He has been with the Bank of England for 22 years and tells presenter Kirsty Young: ‘Being Governor is actually one of the easiest jobs I have ever done. You are in charge but you have tremendous support.’

Critics claim that he rules with an iron fist, and he admits: ‘I demand a lot of others but no more than I demand of myself.’

Sir
Mervyn says that despite the banking crisis, he never has sleepless
nights but understands fully why people have lost faith in the banking
industry.

Sir Mervyn tells the programme that his successor Mark Carney, pictured, is an 'outstanding person'

‘What has surprised me is that people haven’t got angry sooner. It is only now that you see it coming out as the impact on standards of living are being affected.’

Of the August 2007 crisis, Sir Mervyn says: ‘We had believed the financial system as a whole was more resilient, we thought the risk was in the hands of people who knew how to manage it, but that was not true. Banks were very fragile.’

As for his successor, Mark Carney, he says: ‘He is an outstanding person and he must do the job his own way.’

For himself, Sir Mervyn says that in retirement his wife’s wishes will come first. He adds ‘I’ve promised my wife that I will learn to dance.’